Improvement in fire-alarm telegraphs



C. KIRGHHOF.

FIRE ALARM IELEGEAPH.

No. 45,251. Patented Nov. 29, 1864..

Jaw/liar,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES KIRGHHOF, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPHS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,25 I dated November29, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, CHARLES Krucnn or, of Newark, in the county ofEssex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Fire lndicators; and I hereby declare that thefollowin g is a full,-clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of referencemarked thereon, making part of this specification.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention',Iwill proceed to describe it. 1

Figure 7 represents a side elevation of my improved apparatus. In thisfigure a represents a permanent magnet with a shaft, 0, runninglengthwise thereof, on which is mounted the induction-coils b by meansof the crossbar I), in'theusual manner, thus forming the ordinarymagneto-electric machine in common use, and which need not, therefore,be further described.

Upon the shaft 0 is mounted the insulated sectional collars c and 0 asclearly shown in Fig. 3, and which, in connection with the keys orsprings d, d, and cl, constitute the current changer or commuter incommon use, and which need not be herein further described. Theapplication of this commuter here is for the purpose of enabling theoperator to change the currents, and thereby to adapt the machine todifferent receiving-instruments.

In a frame, E, at and above the opposite end of shaft 0, is mounted avertical shaft, 13, having a screw-thread out upon its surface nearlyits entire length, as shown in Fig. 7. This shaft B is connected to anddriven by shaft 0 by means of the bevel-gear shown in said Fig. 7, or byany other equivalent means.

Mounted in frame E, close by shaft B, is a rod, m, upon which slides upand down the device I, which I denominate a traveler, and which is shown,in connection with other parts, in horizontal or transverse section inFig. 8.

Attached to the body or hub of the traveler l is an arm, 8, whichengages in the. screwthread upon shaft B, by which means the traveler iscaused to ascend when shaft B is rotated. Another arm, 8', also projectsfrom the rear side of l, and to the outer extremity of this arm 8 isattached a cord, D which, passing underneath pulley D, then ascends andisconnected to the spiral spring I) or its 1 ward upon arm s to'ca usethe traveler l to de-' scend the rod m whenjthe arm s is disengaged fromthe screw-thread of shaft B. 7

Attached to the traveler l, in a vertical position, is a spring, m, theend of which is provided with a projection which is forced against theteeth cr projections t on the metal platen. This plate n is located in asuitable position to be operated upon by the spring in, and is insulatedby any suitable means from the frame E and the other parts of theapparatus. It will be observed that a space, t, is shown in the edge ofplate a equal to the width of several teeth,just above the teeth 2, theobject of which will be hereinafter explained.

Near the left-hand side of plate a is located a sliding plate or strip,D, the upper end of which is secured bya pin and slot to the lever orindex X, by which it is raised or depressed,

as desired. A plate, I, is secured to the right: hand side of D, in sucha position that it pro jects alongside and in front of platen, itsrighthand edge projecting slightly beyond the teeth 15 on said plate 12,so that when the spring-arm m of the traveler 1 comes opposite saidplate t the arm on shall be prevented from coming in contact with theteeth t on plate at. The traveler I has also an arm, n, projecting tothe left, which, as the traveler is made toascend by the screw on shaftB, is pressed against the face of spring 10 secured to the side of thestrip or plate 0, which latter is adjustable the same as D, and isoperated in a similar manner by the index lever Z. This arm n is held incontact with the face of spring 2) by the same means that keeps the arm8 engaged with the screw on shaft B--to wit, the spiral spring D andcord D operating on arm 8 and tending to draw the traveler around to theright on rod m--and it is thus kept in contact until, as the travelerascends, the arm it passes up behind the stud o and arrives near theupper end of spring 19, above 0, as indicated in red, when the pressureof spring 1), overcoming the force exerted by the spiral spring D,throws the arm.

a forward, whereby the traveler is partially rotated to the left,thereby disengaging the arm s from the screw on shaft B, when thetraveler is instantly drawn down by the cord der on the rear edge ofplate D.

Secured to the rear side of arm n is a springarm, e, standinghorizontally at right angles to n, and projecting forward to such adistance that when n" is thrown forward by the action of spring 1) a;small hook onthe end of 0 shall.

catch over the front edge of strip D, whereby the arm 8 is kept fromre-engaging withthe screw-shaft 13 during the descent of the travelerand after the spring 2 has ceased to operate on arm m.

At a point-on the edge of D directly opposite plate t there is a notchor recess of a length corresponding with the width of a, so

that when c in its descent along the face of D, arrives at that pointitshooked end-slips out through this notch, whereby the arm 0is'disengaged from D, thus allowing the traveler to partially rotate tothe right again, and thereby throw the arm 8 into connection with thescrew,

ready for a repetition of the operation.

It should be observed that were it not for the arm 0 hooking over theface of D, and thus keeping the travelerturncd to the left during itsentire descent, the force of spring D, operating through cord D on arms, would immediately pull the traveler around to the right, whereby thearm s would be prematurely brought into'oontact with the screw-shaft Band the descent of the traveler instantly arrested. A commuter orcurrent changer is also-shown applied to the shaft B but as that isintended to be used only in connection with a novel construction oflines upon which I contemplate making a separate application for LettersPatent any further description thereof is deemed unnecessary in thisspecification.

A line connects one pole of the magnetoelectric machine with the frameE, while another connects the opposite pole with the metallic plate a,and as this plate n is insulated from the rest of the machine it isobvious that no current can pass between plate a and the other parts ofthe machine, except when a connection is made by means of the spring mcoming in contact with theteeth t on the edge of plate a. As the machineis operated and the traveler ascends it will be seen that the arm orspring m will come in contact with said teeth 1, thus imparting animpulse by closing .the' circuit, at. each tooth, the circuit beingbroken by the space between the teeth, as there isg othing therefor thearm on to come in conta t with, and thus there will be conveyed to thereceiving-instrument (which may be located at any desired point) as manysignals or of the station may also be regulated.

impulses as there are teeth brought in contact with the spring-arm m.

As the number of signals or impulses requires to be varied, in order tocorrespond with the num ber of the district in which the tire may"occur, the plate t is raised or lowered, so as to expose more or lessof the teeth to come in contact with arm m as may be necessary to strikethe number of the district. This regulation of the number of strokes orimpulses is accomplished by, the attendant simply moving the indexX tothe figure denoting the number of the district on the district dial orplate X which operation elevates or depresses the plate t and exposesmore or less of the teeth-t, as

Asthere are also sevhereinbet'ore described. oral station's in eachdistrict itis necessary that some means be provided by which the numberof strokes or impulses indicating the number This is accomplished bymoving theindex Z to the number indicating the station on thestationdial Z, whereby the plate 0, and with it the stud o, is raised orlowered, so as to hold spring. eiu contact with the plate at for alonger or shorter period, thus givin g more orless strokes, according tothe number of the station to be indicated.

The object of the space t is to permit or cause an interval of timebetween the strokes indicating the district and those indicating thestation, which shall be greater than that between those whichindicate'the district only, thereby preventing confusion and renderingthe signals conveyed clear and distinct. To obviate still further anyliability to confusion I construct my apparatus in such a manner thatthe signals indicating the stationv shall be repeated at much shorterintervals than those indicating the district. This may be done inseveral ways, one of the most obvious of which is to make the teeth onplate a which are above thespace t, and which indicate the number of thestation, much nearer each other than are those below the space, andwhich indicate only the district. This arrangement of teeth is indicatedin red on plate a of Fig. 7. Another method (shown in my drawings) is toso arrange the size and speed of shaft B that it shall perform tworevolutions while the arm 0 is passing from one to another of the teetht. I then place upon the upper end of shaftB an eccentric, m, which ateach revolution of the shaft comes in-contact with a key or spring, a,to which the wire from the generator is connected, instead of to theframe E, as in the former case. In this case it is obvious that thecircuit will only be completed when the spring 1) and ecgentric ware incontact, and also the arm 0 and the teeth on plate n. As the shaft Bmakes two revolutions during the time coonpied by e in passing from oneto another'of the teeth tit follows that the connection between a: and21 occurs twice as often as between m and t; but no current can passuntil the connection is complete at both points, which can occur only ateach alternate revolution of the wheel. When the arm m has passed-abovethe space 1/ it will remain in contact with the smooth edge of plate a,(there being in this case no teeth above that point,) and then thecircuit will be completed at each revolution of shaft B, whereby thesignals or impulses indicating the number of the station will berepeated twice as often as those previously given, indicating thedistrict. By these means I am enabled to convey the desired signals withcertainty, the signals or impulses themselves being produced by anautomatic or mechanical operator, the attendant having no other duty toperform than simply to place the indexes X and Z at the proper figureson their respective dials and start the machine.

A modification of my device is also shown in Fig. 7, the object of whichis to substitute rotary motion for the rectilinear or reciproeatinginotion necessary to operate the device when constructed as abovedescribed. In this case A represents a wheel secured to the pivotedlever A This wheel is provided with serrated teeth for about one-halfofits circumference, which engage with the screw 0 when thrown into geartherewith. Inserted into the side or face of the wheel A is a series ofpins, h, equidistant from one another, and of such number as may bedesired. As the wheel A is caused to move forward by the screwc the pinsit come in contact with the end of spring g, thusclosin'g the circuit,which is again broken by the space between the plus it, whereby thesignal is repeated the proper number of times. When the wheel A hasmoved the required distance, which must always be less than awholerevolution, it is thrown out of gear by any suitably-operating automaticde' vice, and is returned to its original position by means of a spiralspring, weight, or any equivalent device.

The district and station indexes may be connected with thepartially-rotating wheel A in any suitable manner, by which they shallbe made to regulate the number of strokes or impulses desired, the pinsin the wheel or segment A corresponding to and answering the samepurpose as the teeth It on plate a.

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 exhibit still another modification of my improvement,by which signals are conveyed by use of a key, f. To the under side ofthis key f is secured a spring, 2 y

the end of which, passing through an opening in a stud attached to theunder side of key f, comes in contact with a cam, e, on shaft 0.

This cam 0 extends half-way around said shaft,

and is so located thereon as to be in contact with spring e only so longas a current is pass.- ing in one direction from the magneto-electricmachine, bywhich means a current in one direction only is used to impartsignals or impulses to the receivin g-machine. As the spring 6 is forcedto one side by the cam c it is received and held in a'" notch in thestud f, as indicated in Fig. 6, its original position being shown byFig. 5, and is thereby prevented from coming in contact with the camagain until, by removing the pressure from the key f, spring 6 isbrought in contact with a crossbar, f (shown in Fig. 7,) whereby it isreleased from the notch in stud f and returns to its orignal position,ready to be again brought in contact with cam c? by repeating thepressure upon the keyf. In Fig. 4 the keyfis shown inverted, for thepurpose of showing m ore clearly the spring e and its attachment to thekey. Having thus fully described the construction and operation of myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In afire-alarin telegraph, the combination, with a magneto-electricmachine, of the automatic-operating mechanism to take the place of anoperator, and so constructed as to convey any required number ofsignalsat uniform or varying intervals without any other manipulationthan properly setting the indexes before starting the machine.

2. The traveler Z, constructed and operating substantially as described.

3. Regulating the number of signals or impulses by means of the slidingrod 1) and plate t operated by the attendant, substantially asspecified.

, 4. The oscillating wheel A, when constructed and operatingsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The key f, provided with the spring 6 when constructedand operatingin the man ner and for the purpose set forth.

6. The key f, constructed as described, incombination with the cam 6operating in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

7. So constructing and arranging the automatic operators A and l thatthey can be thrown in and out of connection with the actuating mechanismat pleasure.

CHARLES KIRonHoF. I

Witnesses I. GHR. FRIEDMANN, WM. H. NAFIS.

